Graduating in 1982, he attended the University of Missouri, majoring in journalism, but also concentrating on advertising. Indeed, his ambition was to be an art director. He joined a fraternity, Sigma Chi, but always remained very close to his family. Fellow students recall him writing letters to his mother and grandma while in class.
His choice of career was something of a surprise to those around him. He'd acted in several fraternity shows, but never really revealed a desire to act professionally. Music seemed to be more his thing. But then suddenly, with no real experience behind him, he simply went for it. With two credits still needed before he graduated, in 1986 he climbed into his Datsun (known as Runaround Sue) and, with just $325 in his pocket, took off for California. "In my head," he later said "I was done with college. I was on to the next thing".
The father of a girl he knew had an apartment in California, occupied only by a housekeeper, and here he stayed for a month, rent free. Having made a few friends, he then moved into a flat in North Hollywood, along with eight other guys. They had no furniture, just a TV, a toaster oven and a stereo system. They all slept on the floor in the front room. It was basically Bloke Heaven. For money, they'd go down to the Job Factory, picking up odd jobs here and there. At one point, he had a bet with a buddy as to who could score the most humiliating job. Brad won hands down, dressing up as a giant chicken for El Pollo Loco and hanging out on the corner of Sunset Boulevard in 100 degree heat. Aside from this, he spent time selling cigarettes, delivering fridges, and, bizarrely, assisting a soap opera writer. He even worked driving strippers around in a limousine.
Pitt took the acting lark deadly seriously. He studied under coach Roy London, and would continue to do so for six years, from the off impressing his fellow students with his emotional freedom. And work came quickly. He appeared in the sit-com Head Of The Class, for a while dating the show's star Robin Givens, much to the disgruntlement of her ex-hubbie Mike Tyson. There was also an episode of Growing Pains. But there were better jobs than this. He appeared as Chris in the long-running soap Another World, which has variously featured Anne Heche, Ray Liotta, Kelsey Grammer and, coincidentally, the co-star of one of Brad's later hits, Morgan Freeman. After this, while auditioning for the show Our House, he was asked to read for another part, and found himself playing Shalane McCall's boyfriend Charles in Dallas. He dated her for real too, though she was a mere 16.
There were a few movie roles too. He had uncredited parts in both Less Than Zero and Charlie Sheen's No Man's Land. Then came Cutting Class, about a maniac stalking cheerleaders. He began dating co-star Jill Schoelen, who earlier been seeing Keanu Reeves. Then came the first starring role, in Dark Side Of The Sun, where he played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for his terrible skin condition. The movie was shot in Yugoslavia, with Brad being paid $1,523 a week for seven weeks. It was looking good. Then, with editing nearly complete, civil war broke out and much of the film was lost in the ensuing chaos. It would be rediscovered years later, and the film released, but Brad's first shot at success was gone. Not only that, but Schoelen dumped him. Ah, well.
There was a bit of cop trouble around this time too. According to Inside Edition, a sheriff's report said Brad, while filming in LA, had strolled up to Malibu Canyon Highway and dropped his white shorts for A WHOLE MINUTE. Apparently, he was charged with indecent exposure, but had the charge reduced to disturbing the peace, with a $450 fine.
It got better, fast. Brad won a part in the TV movie Too Young To Die?, about an abused teenager given the death penalty for murder. As white trash drug-hound pimp Billy Canton, Brad was thoroughly unpleasant, taking beastly advantage of runaway Juliette Lewis, who he began dating in real life. "It was quite romantic," he later observed dryly "shooting her full of drugs and stuff". The pair would be together for three years, during which period Brad's career took off big-time.
It was thought, when he appeared in Glory Days, about a group of High School friends pulled in different directions by their careers, that he'd become the new Johnny Depp. Sadly, the show was pulled after six episodes, so he had to find another way. He did this immediately, with a 15-minute mega-performance, showing off his fine physique, giving Geena Davis her first orgasm and then robbing her blind in Ridley Scott's Thelma And Louise. Brad had in fact been third choice for the role (George Clooney didn't even get that far). The first choice, William Baldwin, chose to do Backdraft instead.
Straight away, he fought against the possibility of being typecast as a mere beefcake. He was very, very groovy as a wannabe rock star, alongside Catherine Keener and Nick Cave, in Tom DiCillo's Johnny Suede. Then he took a big risk by competing with animations in Cool World - a movie that had millions of men questioning their sexuality when they found they fancied the cartoon version of Kim Basinger. He won both roles against the wishes of money-men who wanted bigger name actors to star.
The run of success continued with Robert Redford's dreamy, moving A River Runs Through It, for which Brad learned to fly-fish by casting off of Hollywood buildings. Many times, he's said, he caught his hook on the back of his own head. Once they had to pull it out with pliers. After the movie, Brad moved into an apartment with his co-star, Buck Simmonds.
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